John Woodcock, Baron Walney

John Zak Woodcock, Baron Walney[2] (born 14 October 1978)[3] is a British politician serving as the UK Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism, at the Home Office.[4] He was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barrow and Furness from 2010 to 2019 and before that worked as an aide to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. A former member of the Labour Party, he endorsed the Conservatives at the 2019 general election. In 2020, he was ennobled in Boris Johnson's Dissolution Honours list in 2020.

The Right Honourable

The Lord Walney
Woodcock in 2020
United Kingdom Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism
Assumed office
5 November 2019
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Home SecretaryPriti Patel
Preceded byPosition established
Shadow Minister for Transport
In office
8 October 2010 – 11 January 2013
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byWillie Bain
Succeeded byDaniel Zeichner
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
15 September 2020
Life Peerage
Member of Parliament
for Barrow and Furness
In office
7 May 2010 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byJohn Hutton
Succeeded bySimon Fell
Personal details
Born (1978-10-14) 14 October 1978
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England[1]
NationalityBritish
Political partyParliamentary affiliation:
Non-affiliated (since 2020)
Party membership:
Independent (since 2018)
Other political
affiliations		The Independents (2019)
Labour (until 2018)
Spouse(s)
​
(div. 2015)​
Domestic partnerIsabel Hardman
(2018-)
ChildrenTwo daughters and one son
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Websitelordwalney.uk

Early life and career

Woodcock was born in Sheffield to parents who were teachers, his mother at Rotherham College of Arts and Technology. His father was a Labour councillor. He was educated at Tapton School and the University of Edinburgh. While studying for his degree, he took time out to work as a journalist on The Scotsman, before returning to the university to complete his English and history degree.[5][6][7]

Woodcock was elected to run the London branch of Labour Students, and then worked for the Labour Party on the 2005 general election campaign.[5] He later worked as an aide to John Hutton from 2005 to 2008 and later as Special Adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[8][9]

Parliamentary career

Woodcock was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness in the 2010 general election with a majority of 5,208.[10] He succeeded John Hutton, the constituency's Labour MP since 1992.

On 10 October 2010, only five months after being elected to Parliament, he was named a Shadow Minister for Transport. He stepped down from this post for health reasons following an accident in January 2013. In May 2015, Woodcock was appointed Shadow Minister for Young People, but resigned in September 2015, following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as party leader.[5][11]

From July 2011 to January 2013, Woodcock was Chair of Labour Friends of Israel.[12] Until 2015, Woodcock was the chair of Progress, a ginger group within the Labour Party, promoting Blairite policies within the party.[13]

Woodcock was a vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, joking about what he saw as a desperate situation at the 2015 Labour Party conference.[14] In March 2016, Woodcock penned an article on the Daily Mirror critical of Corbyn, which resulted in a backlash against him.[15][16][17] Shortly after the announcement of the 2017 general election, Woodcock said he "will not countenance" voting to place Corbyn into Downing Street because of the Labour leader's opposition to the "Trident renewal programme".[18][19]

In 2016, Woodcock supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis[20] and, in 2018, met the king of Saudi Arabia, King Salman, in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, in his role as chair of Labour's backbench foreign affairs committee.[21]

On 16 January 2019, Woodcock abstained in the vote of confidence in Theresa May's Conservative government, saying Corbyn was "unfit to lead the country".[22] On 4 November, he announced he would not be re-standing as an MP in the 2019 general election, due to his partner Isabel Hardman's pregnancy.[23] On 5 November, the government announced it would be appointing him special envoy for countering far-right violent extremism.[24] He stated he would be supporting the Conservative Party in the upcoming election, and urged voters to vote Conservative.[25][26]

Sexual harassment accusation and resignation from the Labour Party

In November 2017, a former staff member of Woodcock's complained to the Labour Party that he had sent her inappropriate text messages between 2014 and 2016. She reportedly asked for the case to be kept private,[27] but the following year, details were leaked to two newspapers and on 30 April 2018 Woodcock was suspended from membership of the Labour Party and had the party whip withdrawn. "I do not accept the charge", Woodcock responded.[28]

On 24 June 2018, Woodcock said he would no longer cooperate with the Labour Party investigation, as he believed it to be politically motivated. Woodcock stated that he would take the General Secretary of the Labour Party to court to force an independent inquiry to take place.[29] A subject access request by the MP to the party found emails in which officials discussed the need to 'deal with Woodcock' in the run-up to the 2017 election, citing another case where an MP had been accused of sexual impropriety as an example of how the party could refuse to endorse a candidate. A senior party figure told The Guardian newspaper that: "There was always a group of people in the leader's office who wanted to hang a couple of our MPs on the right wing of the party out to dry, but wiser heads always prevailed." They added: "They were really, really going for him".[30]

On 18 July 2018, Woodcock resigned from the Labour Party, choosing to sit as an Independent MP for the remainder of the term. He said that he believed that the party was "no longer the broad church it has always been", but had instead been "taken over by the hard left" under Corbyn's leadership.[31] Woodcock further called Corbyn "a clear risk to UK national security", and criticised what he saw as the party's tacit endorsement of antisemitism and its failure to provide an independent investigator to rule on his disciplinary case, which he claimed was being "manipulated for factional purposes" within the party.[31][32] Labour rejected all accusations of bias against Woodcock, arguing that the process is the same for all similar cases.[31][32] He has since claimed that he pressed Parliament's independent grievance system to accept non-recent complaints so that his case could be heard.[33]

Woodcock sat as an Independent MP, before joining a loose grouping of pro-European MPs known as The Independents in July 2019.[34][35]

Ennoblement

Woodcock was nominated for a life peerage in the 2019 Dissolution Honours, along with four other former Labour MPs who had backed Johnson's Brexit deal or endorsed the Conservatives in the election. He was created Baron Walney, of the Isle of Walney in the County of Cumbria and will sit as a non-affiliated life peer.[36]

Later career

In April 2020, Woodcock was named as part of a consortium, led by Robbie Gibb and including William Shawcross and John Ware, that put in a bid to purchase the assets of The Jewish Chronicle.[37] The Jewish Chronicle chairman Alan Jacobs criticised the offer's anonymity, saying "A bid for the Jewish Chronicle using money from an unidentified source and fronted by a group of individuals who refuse to tell the world anything of their plans looks like a shameful attempt to hijack the world's oldest Jewish newspaper."[38] The bid was successful.[39]

Personal life

Woodcock was married to Mandy Telford, former President of the National Union of Students.[40] They have two daughters. The couple separated in late 2014, and Telford returned to live in Scotland with the children.[41]

Woodcock is in a relationship with the journalist Isabel Hardman, assistant editor of The Spectator magazine.[42][7]

In November 2019, Woodcock announced that Hardman was pregnant, so he would not be re-standing as a parliamentary candidate in the general election.[43] Hardman gave birth to a son, Jacob, on 12 May 2020.[44]

References
  1. "Who's Who". Who's Who?. Retrieved on 1 July 2016.
  2. "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8740.
  3. "John Woodcock MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  4. "Government announces UK special envoy for countering violent extremism". GOV.UK. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  5. Cooney, Rebecca (7 September 2015). "Profiles – John Woodcock, shadow minister for young people". FE Week. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  6. Macrory, Sam (1 March 2012). "John Woodcock: The all action MP". PoliticsHome. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. Rachel Sylvester, Alice Thomson (21 July 2018). "John Woodcock interview: 'Corbyn would leave our country and its allies at risk of nuclear blackmail'". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  8. "Meet Labour's man set to replace John Hutton". North-West Evening Mail. 19 June 2009. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  9. Jess Freeman (9 July 2010). "NUS presidents: where are they now?". Total Politics. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  10. "Barrow & Furness". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  11. Offord, Paul (14 September 2015). "Labour to appoint fifth Shadow Minister for Young People in under three years after John Woodcock stands down". FE Week. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  12. Dysch, Marcus (5 July 2011). "Labour Friends of Israel name new chair". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  13. "Alison McGovern elected chair of Progress". Progress Online. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  14. Bolton, Doug (28 September 2015). "Labour MP John Woodcock mocks Jeremy Corbyn's calls for unity at private conference event". The Independent. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  15. Woodcock, John (24 March 2016). "'We can't go on like this': Labour MP urges colleagues to rally against Jeremy Corbyn". The Mirror. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  16. "John Woodcock told to accept 'democratic decision' to elect Jeremy Corbyn". Politics Home. 26 March 2016. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  17. "Jeremy Corbyn urged to act over Momentum mental health jibe". Politics Home. 26 March 2016. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  18. Schofield, Kevin (18 April 2017). "Labour MP John Woodcock: I can't vote for Jeremy Corbyn to be Prime Minister". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  19. Mason, Rowena; Elgot, Jessica (18 April 2017). "Corbyn's decision to back election causes serious concerns among his MPs". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  20. Wearing, David (28 October 2016). "The Labour rebels who didn't back the Yemen vote have blood on their hands". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  21. Sims, Vanessa (12 April 2018). "From Barrow to Saudi Arabia – John Woodcock leads delegation to meet King Salman". The Mail. Cumbria, UK. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  22. Stewart, Heather; Eglot, Jessica; Walker, Peter (17 January 2019). "Theresa May survives vote, but Britain remains in Brexit deadlock". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  23. Woodcock, John [@JWoodcockMP] (4 November 2019). "Some sad news prompted by wonderful news - I've decided not to re-stand in the general election because @IsabelHardman and I are having a baby! 🤰🏻 Letter to my constituents:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. "Barrow ex-Labour MP John Woodcock appointed extremism envoy". BBC News. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  25. Taylor, Dan (8 November 2019). "Former Barrow Labour MP urges people to vote Conservative". North West Evening Mail. Barrow-in-Furness. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  26. Mason, Rowena (7 November 2019). "Two former Labour MPs urge voters to back Boris Johnson". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  27. Pogrund, Gabriel (2020). Left Out. Random House. p. 61. ISBN 1847926452.
  28. Cowburn, Ashley (1 May 2018). "Labour MP John Woodcock suspended from party after sexual harassment allegation". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  29. Allegretti, Aubrey (24 June 2018). "Labour MP John Woodcock slams 'tainted' sexual harassment investigation". Sky News. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  30. editor, Heather Stewart Political (18 July 2018). "Corbyn allies discussed how to 'deal with' John Woodcock before election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 September 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  31. "MP John Woodcock quits Labour Party". BBC News. 18 July 2018. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  32. Walker, Peter (18 July 2018). "MP John Woodcock quits Labour amid disciplinary case". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  33. "https://twitter.com/lordwalney/status/1289238953275478028". Twitter. Retrieved 6 September 2020. External link in |title= (help)
  34. "Take two: Ex-Change UK MPs forge new alliance called The Independents". CityAM. 10 July 2019. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  35. "Barrow MP joins new breakaway group The Independents". The Mail. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  36. "No. 28388". The Edinburgh Gazette. 8 September 2020. p. 1470.
  37. "Fury at emergence of rival bid for Jewish Chronicle". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  38. Reporter, Jewish News. "Mystery over consortium's 'shameful' bid for Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  39. Waterson, Jim (23 April 2020). "Jewish Chronicle saved by consortium after messy takeover battle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  40. Prince, Rosa (7 August 2015). "Liz Kendall hits out at unfounded sex smears". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  41. "Anna Smith". The Westmorland Gazette. 27 November 2014. Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  42. Dickson, Annabelle (13 September 2017). "Westminster's power couples". Politico. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  43. "John Woodcock". Twitter. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  44. "Isable Hardman". Twitter. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Hutton		 Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness
2010–2019		 Succeeded by
Simon Fell
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Lord Austin of Dudley		 Gentlemen
Baron Walney 		Followed by
The Lord Clarke of Nottingham
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